Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 vs Sigma SD14

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 and the Sigma SD14, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 was introduced in June 2008 and Sigma SD14 was introduced in September 2006. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 over Sigma SD14.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Sigma SD14 over Sony Alpha DSLR-A350.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has a 2.7" Tilting screen with 230k dot resolution and Sigma SD14 has a 2.5" Fixed screen with 150k dot resolution. Tilting screen makes Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting.

Viewfinder

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has a built-in Optical (pentamirror) viewfinderSigma SD14 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder. Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has 95% coverage with 0.74x (0.49x 35mm equivalent) magnification and Sigma SD14 has 98% coverage with 0.90x (0.60x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 features a 14.2 megapixel APS-C CCD sensor with dimensions of 23.6 x 15.8 mm and a total area of 372.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 3,200. Sigma SD14 features a 5 megapixel APS-C CMOS (Foveon X3) sensor with dimensions of 20.7 x 13.8 mm and a total area of 190.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 800 and expands to 100 - 1,600 in boosted mode.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 can take pictures up to 4592 x 3056 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4592 x 2576, 3408 x 2272, 3408 x 1920, 2288 x 1520, 2288 x 1280 with 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios. Sigma SD14 can take pictures up to 2640 x 1760 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 1776 x 1184, 1296 x 864 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has Sony A lens mount and Sigma SD14 has Sigma SA lens mount. They both have APS-C sensor but because of a small size difference their crop factors (also called lens multiplier) differ from each other. Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has the crop factor of 1.5x which means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5. Sigma SD14 has the crop factor of 1.7x which means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.7.

No Low-Pass Filter on Sigma SD14

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Sigma SD14. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization on Sony Alpha DSLR-A350

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has a built-in Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

USB Inputs

Both models have USB inputs for data transfer.

External Storage Slots

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has a single card slot. Sigma SD14 has a single CompactFlash (Type I/II, UDMA compatible), Microdrive card slot.

Shutter

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 has Electronically controlled Vertical-traverse Focal-plane shutter. Sigma SD14 has Electronically controlled focal plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Sony Alpha DSLR-A350, and up to 1/4000 sec on Sigma SD14. Cameras can shoot continuously up to 3.0 fps.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sigma SD14 ranges from +1 to +20 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±2 EV range on Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 and ±3 EV range on Sigma SD14. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sigma SD14.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 12.00 m at ISO 100 on Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. They also accept external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe to Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 and via Hot Shoe to Sigma SD14. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/180 sec on Sigma SD14.

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 body has dimensions of 131 x 99 x 75 mm (5.16 x 3.9 x 2.95") and Sigma SD14 body has dimensions of 144 x 107 x 81 mm (5.67 x 4.21 x 3.19"). Sony Alpha DSLR-A350 weighs 674 g (1.49 lb / 23.77 oz) and Sigma SD14 weighs 750 g (1.65 lb / 26.46 oz).

Sony Alpha DSLR-A350

Sigma SD14

131 mm

99 mm

144 mm

107 mm